My 1st Pinterest Project OR The Importance of Following Instructions

I lost my Pinterest virginity yesterday. 😉

I tried my very first Pinterest project, subway art. I did mine a little different – I listed all the towns that Mr. Crazy and I visited when we traveled to Ireland many moons ago, but along one side, I also put “Ireland.” I designed the file at 24″ x 36″ because that is the size canvas that I had. I sent the file over the internet to my local Staples and ordered an engineering print for $1.99.

5 minutes later, I discovered I had misspelled one of the town names, so I corrected the file and resent it and this time ordered TWO copies, for an additional $3.98

Total spent so far: $5.97

STEP 1:

I started off my painting a used 24×36 canvas with flat black Valspar (Lowe’s 97 cents, total so far: $6.94). The canvas is an old sample from my studio that I no longer wished to display. I’m not showing a “before” shot of the canvas because I don’t want to hurt any of my clients’ feelings because I painted over their faces. I’m counting the canvas as free since it was a repurposed item.

STEP 2: Trim the print. OK – I have to admit – I started getting ticked off right here because I ordered a 24×36 print, but when I looked at it, there was a white border around it. WITH the border, it was 24×36, which means that the file I sent them was reduced slightly. Next time I will order the print a size larger so that this doesn’t happen.

STEP 3: Adhere print to canvas with Mod Podge. (Matte Mod Podge for Paper, $6.99 – new total: $13.93, paint brush already on hand).

Hmmmm. I don’t really like the stark contrast between the black and white. What to do?

STEP 4: Darken Print

I read where someone used coffee to darken their letters. Tried it, not dark enough. Rustled around the kitchen for something darkish and found some “Liquid Smoke”. Tried it in small area and all it did was make the canvas smell like supper.

So, I broke out a can of Minwax stain that I had picked up for some other project (not done yet) for $3.97, making the new total $17.90. I wiped it on with a paper towel and immediately wiped it off with another paper towel.

Hmmm. I’m not so sure I like this. It’s looking a little too dark. At this point I’m not so sure if I’m going to like this when I get done.

STEP 5: Distress – I used my sanding sponge to add some distressing along the edges and on top of some of the wrinkles.

STEP 6: Seal

Oh, dear – this has gone on SO thick this time. And you can see the brush strokes like crazy and it’s starting to wrinkle up a LOT. I realize that perhaps the stain (which seemed oily) was interfering with the Mod Podge. Or perhaps I shouldn’t have used Mod Podge for the sealer. Or perhaps I should have used a foam brush. I’m really freaking out at this point and even tried to peel up the print from the canvas in order to start over with the backup print, but the print was firmly adhered and tore where I tried to pry it up. Nothing to do but move forward.

AFTER:

The next day I put the hanging hardware on it and hung it in the dining room, which is in the process of being turned into an Irish Pub theme.

Honestly – I don’t care for it:

1. The Mod Podge is matte, but it is still reflecting light like crazy.

2. The right hand side of the print is not as dark as the left side. All 3 copies were like this. The Staples girl explained that these were supposed to be more like blueprints and stuff, not something with large areas of black, so the printing quality wasn’t going to be like I wanted it. I should have touched it up with a marker or something beforehand, but I was afraid of making the fix WAY noticeable.

3. The wrinkles – UGH

4. Lettering too dark

5. Print smaller than 24×36 – I don’t like how it doesn’t go out to the edges.

6. Not sure that putting “Ireland” down the side was a bright idea. The last line looks especially funky – the D is way too close to Lahinch.

SO – since this was my first project, I should have done more research. I read 2 sets of instructions for this project and kind of melded the two together and it didn’t work out all that well. I will probably redo the project at some point, but for now – here it is: